Health, Fitness, News & Fun for Picklers of All Ages

What's Cooking in the Kitchen This Week:

• 5 Mistakes Players Make After a Perfect Drop

• Why Summer Soreness Lasts Three Days When It Should Last One

• DRILL OF THE WEEK: The Around-the-Post Builder

• Fitness Expert Glenn Dawson: How to Strengthen Your Rotator Cuff

• MLP Third 2026 Waiver Period Sees More Moves As Teams Search For Improvement

• Best Pickleball Stretches For Injury Prevention

• Pickleball Player Inspiring Others As He Fights For His Life Off the Court

• Seattle Woman, 96, Recognized As Oldest Female Competitive Pickleball Player

• Why Major League Pickleball is Bringing in a Salary Cap

• HUMOR: When I Have To Say The Score in Pickleball

• Coach Mary Is Off This Week: Have a Great 4th of July!

🥷SKILLS

5 Mistakes Players Make
After a Perfect Drop

There’s something satisfying about hitting a perfect third-shot drop.

The ball clears the net with just enough height, lands softly in the kitchen, and forces your opponents to hit up instead of down.

Mission accomplished. Or so you think.

The truth is, the drop isn’t the end of the play. It’s the beginning of the next one.

Many players work incredibly hard to learn a quality third-shot drop, only to give away the advantage immediately afterward. The drop did exactly what it was supposed to do—it bought them time and created an opportunity to move forward. Unfortunately, what they do next often erases all of that good work.

If you’ve ever hit a beautiful drop and still lost the point a shot or two later, one of these mistakes may be the reason.

Mistake 1: Sprinting to the Kitchen

A good drop should buy you time. Many players use that time to sprint.

As soon as the ball leaves their paddle, they charge toward the kitchen with their eyes locked on the flight of the ball. The problem is that they’re still moving when their opponents make contact. That’s when volleys get jammed into their feet or driven past them.

Instead of thinking "run," think "advance."

💪 Health & Fitness Section

Why Summer Soreness Lasts
3 Days When It Should Only Last One

You played well — sharp footwork, good positioning, a solid second game. But three days later your calves are still tight and your knees feel like you played back-to-back sessions all week. 

That’s not because you pushed too hard. It’s often because your body didn’t clear the inflammation fast enough after your last point. 

Which is why The Fit Pickler readers can click here to try Curcumitol-Q and unlock an exclusive discount automatically at checkout. It gives your body a highly absorbable form of curcumin — the active compound in turmeric — to help support a healthier inflammation response, easier joint comfort, and better recovery after long summer sessions. 

Because summer soreness usually isn’t just about muscle strain. 

How your body clears soreness 

The ache you feel after a hard session isn’t damage — it’s cleanup. Your body is flushing inflammatory byproducts from your muscles through your lymphatic system and kidneys. Both run on water. 

In summer, you finish a session already mildly dehydrated. Even if you drank during play, sweat losses in hot weather outpace most players’ intake. Research on recreational athletes in outdoor heat puts fluid deficits at 1–2% of body weight after 60 minutes — more than two pounds of water for a 160-pound player. 

🥷 DRILL OF THE WEEK

The ATP
Around The Post Builder

Few shots get more cheers than an around-the-post winner, which is why so many players go hunting for one before it's actually there. This drill teaches the opposite, showing you how to recognize when an ATP has developed naturally instead of forcing a low-percentage highlight shot.

Learn how the Around-the-Post Builder helps you spot real ATP opportunities, improve your decision-making, and hit the shot more often by trying it less.

 🏋️ STAYING FIT with
GLENN & BRIANNA

How To Strengthen
Your Rotator Cuff

 🏓 PRO NEWS
MLP Third 2026 Waiver Period
Sees More Moves As Teams
Search For Improvement

Major League Pickleball’s trade season isn’t slowing down. Hunter Johnson is on the move, Casey Diamond has officially landed on a roster after his breakout substitute performance, and a flurry of waiver claims and multi-team deals reshaped lineups just days before New York.

Catch up on the latest MLP roster moves and see which teams may have improved the most before this weekend's matches.

⚕️ HEALTH NEWS
Best Pickleball Stretches
For Injury Prevention

Most pickleball injuries don’t come from one bad step. They build up slowly from skipped warmups, tight muscles, and the same movements repeated over and over until something finally hurts.

This quick guide walks through the key stretches, strength moves, and simple habits that can help you stay healthy, move better, and avoid the most common pickleball injuries.

 🏓 PRO NEWS
Why Major League Pickleball
Is Bringing in a Salary Cap

Major League Pickleball could look very different in 2027. League officials are weighing a salary cap, franchise tags, and a spending floor, changes designed to keep powerhouse teams from stockpiling talent and give every franchise a better shot at competing.

See how the proposed rules could reshape team building, player movement, and the future of MLP.

👏 COMMUNITY NEWS

Zephyrhills Pickleball Player
Inspiring Others As He Fights For
His Life Off The Court

Gary Buchanan plays pickleball almost every day, even as he undergoes treatment for stage IV metastatic prostate cancer that has spread to his bones. For a few hours on the court, he says, the pain, appointments, and diagnosis all fade into the background.

Read how pickleball has become Buchanan’s escape, his motivation, and an inspiration to the community around him. Click here to read more of his inspirational journey.

🏓 HUMOR

RALLY RUNDOWN:
LOCAL HIGHLIGHTS

MARTHA'S VINEYARD, MA: Pickleball on the Rise
SAN ANTONIO, TX: Team Army Coaches and Mentors Help Soldiers Rediscover What's Possible Through Adaptive Pickleball
FORT LAUDERDALE, FL: A Floating Pickleball Court Just Opened in Fort Lauderdale
COACHELLA VALLEY, CA: Pickleball Pros: The Scorpions Kick Off Their 2026 Season With an Exhibition Match
BINGHAMPTON, NY: Student Entrepreneurs Aim to Bring Binghamton's First Dedicated Indoor Pickleball Facility to Life
PITTSBURGH, PA: Picklesburgh to Introduce Pickleball Courts at Arts Landing in Downtown Pittsburgh
VISALIA, CA: After Losing Fresno Site Dill Dinkers Brings Indoor Pickleball to Visalia This Summer
SUN PRAIRIE, WI: Madison College Hosts Pickleball Championship Supporting Students


DO YOU HAVE LOCAL NEWS TO SHARE? REACH OUT TO US AT
[email protected] and send us a link to your story!

SEE YOU NEXT WEEK! HAVE A SAFE AND HAPPY 4th of JULY!
Happy Pickling!

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